Forex market hours & sessions clock

Which sessions are open right now, and when the next one opens, in your own time zone. Daylight saving is handled for you, so the London and New York overlap (usually the busiest hours for gold) is always shown at the right clock time.

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Educational arithmetic on the figures you enter. Example prices are placeholders, not live quotes; contract sizes and pip definitions vary by broker. Not financial advice.

How it works

Forex and gold trade around the clock on weekdays, but the activity follows the business day of four financial centres. Each session here uses its centre's own local hours, so it moves with that centre's daylight saving:

Sydney 07:00–16:00 Australia/Sydney Tokyo 09:00–18:00 Asia/Tokyo London 08:00–17:00 Europe/London New York 08:00–17:00 America/New_York

The clock converts those hours to the time zone you pick, marks the sessions that are open, counts down to the next open or close and lists the overlaps. The market is shown as closed from Friday 17:00 to Sunday 17:00 New York time.

Why the overlap matters

When London and New York are open together, the most banks, funds and desks are in the market at once, which usually means the tightest spreads and the largest moves in gold. The Asian session is typically quieter for gold, and the hour around the New York 17:00 rollover is thin.

Worked example: gold

A gold trader in Pakistan (UTC+5, no daylight saving) sees these local times:

US and UK summer time Winter time Tokyo 05:00–14:00 05:00–14:00 London 12:00–21:00 13:00–22:00 New York 17:00–02:00 18:00–03:00 London + NY 17:00–21:00 18:00–22:00

The overlap is four hours either way, but it slides an hour later in the evening each winter. For a few weeks each spring and autumn the US and the UK change their clocks on different dates, and the overlap shifts by an hour in between: a fixed "trade at 17:00" rule would drift without anyone noticing, and the clock above does not.

FAQ

Questions traders ask

What are the forex market hours?

Forex trades 24 hours a day from Sunday 17:00 to Friday 17:00 New York time, passing from Sydney to Tokyo to London to New York. Gold (XAUUSD) follows the same pattern at most brokers, with a short daily pause around 17:00 New York.

What is the best time to trade gold?

Gold is usually most active when London and New York are open together, and around US data releases at 08:30 New York time. That is the busiest window, and also the one with the biggest and fastest moves, so the best time depends on how much movement your plan is built for.

Why do the session times change during the year?

London and New York observe daylight saving on different dates (the US switches earlier in March and later in November than the UK), and Sydney switches in the opposite season. Each session's hours are fixed in its own local time, so its time in yours changes when its clocks change. The overlap shifts by an hour for a few weeks in spring and autumn.

Is the forex market open on weekends?

No. It closes on Friday at 17:00 New York time and reopens on Sunday at 17:00. Brokers' own server times and holiday schedules differ, so check your platform before relying on the last or first hour of the week.

Which time zone does the clock use?

Your device's by default, or the one you pick from the list. All times, countdowns and the overlap table are shown in that zone.

Are these hours trading advice?

No. They are the local business hours of each financial centre, shown as a reference. Liquidity varies day to day and with the news, and nothing here is a recommendation to trade at any time.

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